Barbecue Secrets

May/June 2009
Just in time for summer
Barbecue Secrets
Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement 41689029
Taking the “swine” out
of H1N1 Influenza
Guest Editorial:
Jim Laws,
Canadian Meat Council
pg.5
meatbusiness.ca $6.00

Volume 8, Number 3 May/June 2009
5 Guest Editorial
by Jim Laws
6 Rockin’ in the BBQ World: Rockin’ Ronnie’s Barbecue Secrets
by Alan MacKenzie
6
8 Canadian Cattle’s Roll in Caring for a Sustainable Earth
10 Canadian Meat Council Annual Conference / PACKEX
Toronto 2009
12 Taking the “Swine” Out of H1N1 Influenza
by Alan MacKenzie
14 Assembly Line
16 The Five Steps to Good Governance
by Wayne Gelb
18 Cross Country News
20 The Kitchen is Open
by David Rizzo
23 Events Calendar
24 Industry Roundup
26 Be a Fly on the Wall in Your Own Facility
by Bill Melville
12
30 Meat Industry Business Watch
by James Sbrolla
20
10
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business

| Guest Editorial |
May/June 2009 Volume 8 Number 3
PUBLISHER
Ray Blumenfeld
ray@meatbusiness.ca
The need for a Canada-U.S.
food safety authority
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Alan MacKenzie
alan@meatbusiness.ca
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Jim Laws, Wayne Gelb, David Rizzo,
Bill Melville, James Sbrolla
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Krista Kline
FINANCE
Jerry Butler
Canadian Meat Business is published
six times a year by We Communications West Inc.
COMMUNICATIONS WEST INC.
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7-1080 Waverley Street
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Phone: 204.985.9502 Fax: 204.582.9800
Toll Free: 1.800.344.7055
E-mail: publishing@meatbusiness.ca
Website: www.meatbusiness.ca
Canadian Meat Business subscriptions are
available for $28.00/year or $46.00/two years
and includes the annual Buyers Guide issue.
©2009 We Communications West Inc.
All rights reserved.
The contents of this publication may not be
reproduced by any means in whole or in part,
without prior written consent from the publisher.
Printed in Canada.
ISSN 1715-6726
Cover photo: John Sinal
T
he Canadian Meat Council
is now entering its 90th year
of representing Canada’s
federally inspected meat processors.
And we’ve just returned from our 89th
annual conference – this year held in
Montreal. Just like last year, we reported
that our Canadian meat processing
industry is facing incredible challenges.
But, this time, the challenges have all
changed.
What a difference a
year makes
Last year, a strong Canadian dollar,
record high oil and feed grain prices
and labour shortages were cutting
into profitability. This year the recent
H1N1 flu virus that has traumatized
our pork sector, the U.S. mandatory
country of origin labelling, new
listeria control measures and the
independent investigation along with
the Subcommittee on Food Safety at
the House of Commons are all top
of mind.
You will all recall the incredible
political events of last year. Prime
Minister Stephen Harper called for
an independent investigation into the
listeriosis event. A general election
was then called and government
officials went silent – including those
from the CFIA and from the Public
Health Agency of Canada. Once
again, Canada elected a Conservative
minority government. With calls for
a full-blown public inquiry, and other
political issues threatening to topple
the government, our prime minister
sought and received a rarely used
prorogation of parliament granted by
our Queen’s representative in Canada
– Governor General Michaelle Jean.
A gruelling and lengthy election
campaign south of the border and a
historic inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009,
gave the U.S. its first African-American
president. Since then President Obama
has set his country on an ambitious
plan with many large plans for reform.
Canada’s prime minister, saddled with
a minority government and a recession,
seems to have no grand plans such as a
new national high-speed railway system
or a national electric power grid.
Let’s offer them something big. Let’s
tell them that we really believe that with
these challenging economic times, we
need to work more closely together.
Let’s do what the many countries of
Europe have done – agree on a common
food safety system. Surely, if they can
do it, we can do it. We’ve already seen
how the misfortunes of one company
in Canada on listeria control affect
the entire industry, and now lately the
new H1N1 virus in Mexico affected
our entire North American industry.
We’ve seen what happens in Canada
when salmonella is traced to a peanut
processor in the United States.
Food safety systems
With the new Obama administration
now just past its 100 days, and Chrysler
and GM seemingly put on life support
by both the U.S. and Canadian
governments, both our countries are
turning their attention to their food
safety systems.
The Europeans have addressed
their challenges with the creation of a
European Food Safety Authority and
their common economic union that
allows for the freedom of exchange of
goods and people travel without the
need for border inspection between
each country.
Already, the North American Free
Trade Agreement has helped to triple
trade since 1993 among our three
countries to a projected $1 trillion in
2008. We can do a lot better.
Our differences should be set aside
and the strengths of our industry built
on to compete in an ever competitive
world. With the U.S. always ahead of us
on access to new antimicrobial agents
and interventions, and out-competing
us on more favourable meat inspection
fees and specified risk material
regulations, it’s time we push for a new
deal that sets common food safety rules
for both of our countries.
Jim Laws is the executive director of the
Canadian Meat Council.
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business

Photo: John Sinal
Photo: Whitecap Books
Rockin’ in the BBQ World
Vancouver’s Rockin’ Ronnie shares his Barbecue Secrets in an
all-encompassing new cookbook.
By Alan MacKenzie
North Vancouver-based Rockin’
Ronnie Shewchuck is so
obsessed with outdoor cooking
that he calls himself a “barbecue
evangelist” – and his new cookbook may
just be “the bible” for barbecue fans
everywhere.
Published by Vancouver-based
cookbook specialists Whitecap Books,
Barbecue Secrets Deluxe! is Shewchuck’s third
book, a combination of his first two titles
– Barbecue Secrets and Planking Secrets – that
brings together the best of both with new
photos, information and recipes. With
over 200 recipes in total, charts, diagrams
and entertaining extras, the book is sure
to be a hit with everyone from the average
backyard griller to the up-and-coming
professional.
With passion Shewchuck details the
difference between grilling (what we do
with our propane or charcoal grills at
home) and the slow-cooking tradition
Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009
of southern-style barbecue – complete
with diagrams of how to perform both
methods properly. He also shows that
plank-cooking can be used for much more
than just salmon.
But Barbecue Secrets Deluxe! is more
than just a cookbook – it’s a celebration
of barbecue as a lifestyle. It’s an allencompassing
guide, that goes beyond
recipes and tells readers what beverages
and music will go best with their barbecue
– not surprisingly beer and wine and
country and classic rock top the lists, but
Shewchuck gets much more specific with
drink recipes and sample playlists.
Shewchuck – a communications
professional by day – has been barbecuing
competitively for about 15 years and his
team – Rockin’ Ronnie’s Butt Shredders
– has won numerous awards on the
championship barbecue circuit. The
group won the 2004 Canadian National
Barbecue Championships and is a twotime
Alberta champion. The team has
also competed in the American Royal
Invitational in Kansas City (the “World
Series of Barbecue”), as well as the Jack
Daniel’s Invitational World Barbecue
Championship in Lynchburg, Tennessee
– considered to be the most prestigious
barbecue contest in the world. According
to Whitecap Books, the Butt Shredders
made barbecue history in 2001 when they
became the only Canadian team ever to
win a U.S.-based barbecue competition
in a stunning upset at the Oregon State
Open Barbecue Championship.
Today Shewchuck not only competes,
but also teaches cooking classes, writes
articles for food publications and hosts a
barbecue podcast.
Born in Edmonton, Shewchuck grew
up watching TV chef legend Graham
Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet, on CBC TV.
“I think I learned the spirit of really, truly
enjoying food from him.”
meatbusiness.ca

“I was brought up in a very meat and
potatoes culture,” he adds. “I come from
a Ukrainian family where we ate the three
pork groups – bacon, ham and sausage.
And I was always the guy as a teenager that
whenever there was a backyard barbecue,
I’d be the one who brought the threeinch
thick porterhouse steak and have it
all marinated beforehand – and I’d insist
on grilling everyone else’s meat for them.
I just always loved it.”
Shewchuck adds that he is delighted
by changes he is seeing in the Canadian
meat industry that make it easier for him
to use locally grown meat in competition,
noting that better quality meat has been
coming on the market in the last four or
five years.
“I think the cholesterol fascists have
finally been at least displaced by people
who like meat with really excellent flavour,”
he says. “I try to (use locally grown meat)
whenever possible. I’m starting to see
changes that I like. When I first started to
compete, I would look for pork and beef
that was raised in the U.S., just because it
had a higher fat content and was tastier and
would stand up to the long, slow cooking
of barbecue. Now I try to eat locally – I
certainly look for Alberta beef, I try to buy
local pork here in B.C.”
Classic Dadburger Deluxe Recipe
Makes
12–16 patties,
depending on
how big you
like them.
Burger patties
• 6 lb | 2.7 kg ground beef (or combine
equal amounts of ground beef and
ground pork)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 head roasted garlic, cloves squeezed
out and mashed with a fork
• 1 Tbsp | 15 mL toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp | 25 mL dark soy
sauce, Worcestershire sauce or
a combination
• 1/2 tsp | 2 mL freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp | 1 mL cayenne (or more, if
you like more heat)
• lots of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup | 125 mL cold water
Fixin’s
• barbecue sauce
• 12–16 cheese slices (optional)
• 12–16 hamburger buns
Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.
Gently combine the burger ingredients
in a large bowl with your hands, taking
care not to overwork the meat. Wet
your hands in cold water before you
form the mixture into chunks the size
of tennis balls. Flatten them into patties,
placing them on the baking sheet. Each
patty will be about 1/2 lb (250 g) before
cooking. Place them in the freezer for
one hour to firm them up.
Preheat your grill for medium direct
heat. Take the burgers out of the
freezer and grill them for six minutes
per side, or until they are springy to the
touch, glazing them on both sides with
barbecue sauce. Top each patty with
a slice of cheese for the last couple of
minutes of cooking. Serve the burgers
on buns with your favorite condiments.
- excerpted from Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuck’s
Barbecue Secrets Deluxe!
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business

Part of the
Environmental Solution
Canadian cattle’s role in caring for a sustainable Earth.
W
hen it comes to the
environment, according to
cattle producers – Canadian
cattle have a bum rap. Contrary to
reports, Canadian livestock make only
a minor contribution to Canada’s
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
and energy use. Actually, cattle
play an essential role in sustainable
agriculture.
Canadian cattle utilize natural
resources very efficiently and cattle
producers continuously look for
ways to increase that efficiency. Good
management of Canada’s approximate
21 million hectares of pastureland is
one of those ways. Not only do pastures
support food production, but they
provide wildlife habitat and serve an
important role in GHG reductions. In
some cases, pastureland stores carbon
more efficiently than trees.
Pastures can exist where our food
crops can’t – on land that is too steep or
cold or inaccessible to farm machinery.
Pasture grasses play a significant role
in feeding us. In Canada, since nearly
one third of Canada’s agricultural
land is unsuitable for crop production,
utilizing it as pasture to raise cattle
enables this land to still contribute to
food production.
More environmentally friendly
than most other forms of producing
food, properly managed cattle pasture
lands control erosion and enrich the
soil. Planted grasses are often used
to rehabilitate soils where crops have
grown. It is precisely because of these
Better management
practices have lowered
the number of cattle
required to produce
the high-quality protein
consumers require.
benefits and more that cattle play
such a pivotal role in our food supply.
Without cattle those lands would not
contribute to our food supply.
For nearly 20 years, producers
have worked hard to reduce the
environmental footprint of Canadian
agriculture by implementing best
management practices to improve
efficiency and reduce environmental
impact. These practices include
improving the diets of farm animals,
selectively breeding for animals that
use their diets more efficiently and
improving animal health – all factors
that contribute to the reduction of
GHG emissions. Better management
practices have lowered the number
of cattle required to produce the
high-quality protein consumers
require. In addition, as stewards of
the land, many producers adopt
environmental farm plans tailored to
their specific operations to enhance
the environmental sustainability of
their operations.
Meanwhile the investments made
in new technologies and agricultural
research will certainly yield an even
more sustainable future with cattle.
They play a significant part in the
burgeoning biogas industry; making
it possible to turn manure, already
a valuable soil amendment, into a
renewable source of energy.
When it comes to environmentally
sustainable food production, let’s
Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009
meatbusiness.ca

eflect on the contributions the lowly
Canadian cow makes to the environment
and feeding the world.
Canada’s beef and cattle producers
make a valuable contribution to Canada’s
economy and environment. Their good
management practices maintain wildlife
habitat and contribute to reducing
GHG. They are committed to ensuring
their practices prove beneficial to the
environment, their animals and operations,
plus the consumer.
Sustaining Canada’s
agricultural land
• Canada’s cattle producers manage
167 million acres of native grasses for
livestock and wildlife – comprising
about a quarter of Canada’s total
agricultural land.
• These native and tame grasses play an
important role in sequestering carbon
in the soil, filtering water, providing
habitat for wildlife and birds and
providing high-quality feed for cattle.
• Producers annually convert additional
cultivated crop land to tame grasses.
Building and maintaining
native grasses
• Native grasses make a significant
contribution to feeding practices that
reduce methane output from cattle.
• Science has proved that moving cattle
from pasture-to-pasture, maintains
the healthy, lush green grasses which
provide easy-to-digest feed for cattle.
• An easy-to-digest cattle feed promotes
good weight gain and reduces methane
production.
• With more than 90 per cent of Canada’s
beef cattle production pasture-based,
the added bonus to these planned
grazing practices is the flourishing
wildlife habitat it creates.
Eat meat and sustain the
environment
• Eating less meat will not save the
environment. In fact, it may contribute
to more demands on it.
• Consuming less meat protein means
that to maintain a healthy diet, people
must consume more vegetablebased
protein. Producing that requires
the cultivation of more land, which
increases use of fossil fuels and
fertilizer application. Unfortunately
valuable wildlife habitat is lost in the
process.
For more information visit the Canadian
Cattlemen’s Association at cattle.ca.
- Staff
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business

Canadian Meat Council Marks 90 Years at
Annual Conference
T
he Canadian Meat Council
(CMC) held its 89th Annual
Conference on May 6 to 8 at
the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in
Montreal. This year’s conference also
marked the 90th anniversary of the
Canadian Meat Council.
The conference featured the
popular Product Tasting Reception
on Wednesday evening, with products
from the Beef Information Centre, BSA
Ingredients, Delft Blue Inc/Ecolait
Ltee, FPBQ – Quebec grain-fed veal,
Griffith Laboratories, Hermann Laue
Spice Company, Kerry Ingredients &
Flavours, Olymel and Viscofan Canada.
Retail and foodservice guests were in
attendance at this event.
Throughout the day on Thursday,
speakers addressed topics in the areas
of sales and marketing, operations,
and technical. Popular presentations
included Current Perspective on
Listeria Control by Dr. Randy Huffman
of Maple Leaf Foods, and Supply Chain
Alliance, by Jeff Kroll of MacDonald’s
Restaurants of Canada.
The program on Friday included an
Photo: Jim Laws
analysis of the agri-food commodities
by Irene Nattel from the Royal Bank
of Canada; an overview of the industry
by Patrick Boyle and Rod Brenneman,
the president and chairman of the
American Meat Institute; a parallel
between history of the CMC and current
issues by Jim Laws and Don Davidson,
the council’s executive director and
Product Tasting Reception, Beef Information Centre booth.
president; and an update on Canadian
Food Inspection Agency activities by
Jean Lamoureux, executive director of
Quebec operations.
The 90th Annual Conference will be
held at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in
Victoria, B.C. from May 5 to 7, 2010.
-staff
PACKed in for ’09
PACKEX Toronto 2009 confirms its status of a
Canadian must attend event for all packaging and
supply chain professionals.
F
rom May 5 to 7 Canadian Meat
Business was in attendance
at PACKEX Toronto 2009,
Canada’s largest packaging, material
handling and logistics show.
The 34th edition of PACKEX
Toronto was a huge success. In spite
of difficult economic times, both
exhibitors and visitors communicated
positive feedback to organizers with
comments focusing on the quality of
PACKEX Toronto as an essential show
for the Canadian industry.
PACKEX Toronto welcomed over
354 exhibitors from Canada, the United
States, and overseas. This edition
presented a wider selection of exhibits
represented by 143 new companies.
Furthermore, PACKEX Toronto was
co-located for the first time ever with
IPA Canada, the National Food Process
Exhibition. These two co-located events
provided technologies and solutions
under one roof, from food production
to its shipment.
PACKEX Toronto 2009 welcomed
7,034 attendees, showing a thriving 17
per cent increase from the previous
edition in 2007.
- staff
Paul Medeiros and Carol Zweep,
Guelph Food Technology Centre
Photo:s Alan MacKenzie
10 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

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Photo: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz shows support
for the pork industry on Parliament Hill.
Derrick Pobereznek
What’s in
a Name?
Governments, WHO take the “swine”
out of H1N1 Influenza.
By Alan MacKenzie
W
hat difference does a name make? Millions of
dollars worth of exports, if that name is “swine
flu.”
In late April a deadly virus with origins in Mexico that
beganspreading to the United States and Canada made
headlines worldwide under the name “swine flu” – even
though the virus includes genetic components of human,
avian and swine origin.
In the days following the outbreak, countries began
halting imports of North American pork because of the
association with the name, despite the fact that the virus
in not a foodborne illness. Ukraine – which imported $11
million worth of Canadian pork last year – banned pork
from Canada and several others were reportedly considering
it, including the Philippines – which imported $46 million
worth of Canadian pork last year.
Pork groups such as the Canadian Pork Council (CPC)
and the Canadian Swine Health Board (CSHB) began
pressuring the federal government to follow U.S. President
Barack Obama’s lead to stop using the term. The Canadian
government agreed and the virus became known as H1N1
influenza – however mainstream media did not follow
suit, and many pork industry officials are concerned
that consumers and importers will continue to make the
association between the illness and pork products.
“The impact will be lessened, but it will not be back to what
it was,” Jacques Pomerleau, executive director of Canada
Pork International, told Canadian Meat Business. “It’s a good
first step, but I think the industry will have to work very hard
in the next while just to rebuild that confidence.”
The situation was heightened April 28 when an Alberta
farmer voluntarily reported influenza-like symptoms in his
herd, resulting in a quarantine and the cull of approximately
500 animals on his farm. According to the CPC the cull was
made on Arnold Van Ginkel’s farm to alleviate overcrowding
brought on by the quarantine.
The CPC said Van Ginkel is owed a debt of gratitude by
the Canadian pork industry for putting the health of the
industry ahead of that of his own farm. “In addition to
Arnold Van Ginkel, we would like to thank Alberta Pork,
Alberta Agriculture and the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency for their quick and efficient handling of the
impending overcrowding issue on the farm,” CPC chair
Jurgen Preugschas said in a release. “Thanks are also due
to Van Ginkel's neighbours and industry partners for their
ongoing support of the Van Ginkel family and for respecting
and protecting the privacy of the family until they were ready
to be publicly identified.”
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz stated that the
government will continue to reassure Canadian consumers
12 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

and international trading partners that
Canadian pork is safe.
“The international scientific community,
including the OIE (World Organization
For Animal Health) and WHO (World
Health Organization), agree that H1N1
Influenza A is not a food safety issue,” he
said in a release. Ritz added that Canadian
consumers should show support by buying
more pork.
Review and strengthen
biosecurity
CPC and CSHB have urged hog
producers to review and strengthen their
existing biosecurity practices:
• Visitor traffic to pig barns should be
minimized to essential services only,
and persons recently returning from
affected regions should have no contact
with pigs for at least seven days.
• Barn entry requirements should be
enhanced with a minimum of a change
of clothes and boots and a thorough
hand wash. If masks are available, they
should be used, with a N95 respiratory
mask and gloves being the preferred
choice.
• Insure ventilation systems are
functioning and minimize recirculation
of air inside animal housing
facilities.
• No workers suffering “flu” like illness
should contact swine, workers should
not return to swine facilities until
seven days after having respiratory
illness. The same should apply if a
farm workers household has been
diagnosed with influenza.
• Influenza-like symptoms could include
one or more of the following, fever,
cough, body aches, and sometimes
vomiting and diarrhea.
• Any unusual respiratory disease in
pig herds should be investigated by
the herd veterinarian and diagnostic
samples (lung tissues and nasal swabs)
from acutely ill pigs with a fever should
be sent to the regional veterinary
diagnostic lab.
• The decision to vaccinate swine herds
with existing swine vaccines should be
made with your herd veterinarian.
For the health of workers in contact with
swine, the groups recommended:
• Report any unusual respiratory disease
to your doctor.
• Use masks and gloves are
recommended and safety goggles
when necessary.
• Recommend that an annual flu
vaccination be discussed with
their doctor as part of their health
management plan.
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 13

| Assembly Line |
Assembly Line is an opportunity for companies to feature new products for the meat
producing, processing, packaging and distribution industry. To include information about your
new product e-mail alan@meatbusiness.ca.
Tamper Proof Greatness in NITA’s Newest
Clamshell Labeller
The new Shellshock clamshell
labelling system from Montrealbased
Nita Labeling Equipment is
configurable to handle container
sizes as small as four inches wide as a
large as 15.5 inches in width.
The labeller provides quality,
accuracy, user friendliness, HMI
(touch screen) operated, servomotor
driven reliability. The over
the top wipe-on labeller is specially adapted to plunge deeper
through the conveyor for a consistent throughput and an
exceptional accurate look to your clamshell container while
offering a tamper-evident seal.
The product feature stainless steel and anodized aluminium
construction and no proprietary electronics.
With only the clamshell and tray containers in mind, this
device is aimed specifically at the baking, meats, poultry,
produce and confectionary industries.
nitalabelingequipment.com
Protecting Your Products with Sodium
Acetate and Diatcetate
In December 2008 Health Canada issued an Interim
Marketing Authority allowing sodium diacetate and sodium
acetate to be used in meat and poultry products. Bombal
(Fresh Amba) – available from Malabar Super Spice Co. Ltd.
– is a special blend of these ingredients designed to slow the
growth of microorganisms (including listeria monocytogenes,
e.coli, bacilllus cereus and staphylococcus aureus).
Bombal (Fresh Amba) is a fine powder that is easy to use,
dissolves quickly, can be mixed at any stage of the process, and
has a low usage rate of only 0.5 per cent calculated on the total
weight.
The blend is designed for both sausage emulsions and cured
and injected meat and poultry products. There is no reaction
with other spices or ingredients. It should be added after
phosphates and salt. Sodium diacetate is a free flowing source
of acetic acid (organic acid), most recognizable as a granular
form of vinegar.
Bombal (Fresh Amba) is available in 3 kg or 22 kg bags.
malabarsuperspice.com
Clarion Food Grade Lubricants Available in
New Convenient Size
Clarion Food Grade white oil lubricants are now available to
food manufacturers in a convenient five-gallon pail.
Representing the leading edge of purity and performance for
more than 40 years, white mineral oil base products such as Clarion
Food Grade, has given food manufacturers the opportunity to
use lubricants that offer the same quality performance, or better,
than traditional lubricants while helping to remove the risks of
contamination or recall from operations.
Clarion Food Grade white mineral oils are highly refined
and stabilized so that they can be used for everything from food
coatings to direct use in pharmaceutical products like suntan
lotions and ointments.
Clarion products meet the most stringent standards of
purity and performance for food processing. White oils cannot
be labelled as “food grade” unless the products pass special
approval tests governed by the United States Food and Drug
Administration (U.S. FDA). All Clarion Food Grade products are
NSF H-1 registered for use in food processing plants under the
jurisdiction of the U.S. FDA.
A spokesperson for the company said applications have been
submitted to Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to
register the Clarion Food Grade products in Canada.
With a diverse product line, Clarion offers solutions to almost
any food manufacturing need. Clarion food grade greases
effectively lubricate most machinery used to manufacture,
process, package and store food products. High-temperature,
extreme pressure water-resistant food grade greases provide
excellent rust protection and oxidation inhibition – ideal in
applications where the greases may accidentally come into
contact with food. Synthetic food grade oils allow extended
drain intervals, in many cases, lowering the lubricant cost and
reducing maintenance work. All Clarion Food Grade products
are available in bulk, totes, drums or pails with the recent addition
of the convenient five-gallon pail.
clarionlubricants.com
Food Safety is a Hands-On Issue
Waterford, Ont.-based Deb
Canada recently launched its Food
Safety Hand Hygiene program in an
e-learning format.
The company says that foodborne
illness is most often transmitted by
food workers that fail to wash their
hands effectively.
The program, designed to help
raise standards of food safety by
reducing the risk of food being cross-contaminated as a result
of poor hand hygiene, covers key topics including Centre of
Disease Control statistics, communicable disease prevention
and proper hand-washing techniques, according to marketing
manager Patrick Boshell.
The program, which is based on the Deb Skin Care System, is
a combination of highly effective skin care products and support
activities, designed to help food manufacturers implement and
maintain effective hand hygiene. A preventative intervention,
14 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

it consists of a six-step approach to skin care, which includes
protection, cleansing, sanitizing, restoration, education and
auditing.
debcanada.com
FKI Logistex Offers Sortation Equipment
and System Audits
FKI Logistex now offers a performance audit program
for its sliding shoe, linear belt and pop-up wheel sortation
equipment and systems, including the UniSort product line.
The audit is designed to reveal cost-efficient ways to optimize
system capacity and throughput, improve equipment
utilization and extend system life.
Performed by a certified FKI Logistex audit engineer, audits
include a complete equipment inspection and review of
operational and maintenance procedures. The comprehensive
service also includes a detailed audit report containing
equipment drawings, performance checklists and digital
photographs for technical reference. Recommendations for
maintenance, upgrades or modifications are accompanied
by a complete list of recommended spare parts. The audit
engineer will also provide schedules for recommended
future audits and preventive maintenance.
fkilogistex.com
Petro-Canada Launches Environmentally
Friendly Lubricant Line
Petro-Canada has announced its new EcoSia brand, a
suite of products that possess environmentally friendly
characteristics. The product offering spans a diverse range
of applications and customer segments including, but not
limited to, lubricants and fluids for agriculture and general
manufacturing.
The EcoSia line-up includes products from many of Petro-
Canada’s existing brands, including, but not limited to,
ENVIRON hydraulic fluids, PUREDRILL drilling mud base
fluids, CALFLO specialty heat transfer fluids, select PURITY
FG food grade lubricants, PURETOL white oils, select
COMPRO compressor fluids, and LUMINOL electrical
insulating fluids.
Petro-Canada blends and packages more than 350
different lubricants, specialty fluids and greases that are
exported to more than 60 countries on six continents.
Majority of products are manufactured from 99.9 per cent
pure base oils – among the purest in the world. As the world’s
largest producer of white oils and the leading supplier of
factory fill automatic transmission fluids, Petro-Canada is
focused on going beyond today’s standards. With more
than 30 years of experience in blending Groups II and III
base oils, the company delivers a diverse line of innovative
lubricants to meet an ever increasing range of international
specifications.
lubricants.petro-canada.ca/ecosia
please visit us at: www.sperlingind.com
“BOSS” equipment
Industry providers to the food industry for over 100 years...
• Focused on food safety with enhanced production reliability.
• Specializing in engineering, fabrication, installations, Beef & Pork.
• BOSS provides packers with reliable efficient equipment.
Sperling
Industries Ltd.
51 Station St, (Box 100)
Sperling, MB Canada R0G 2M0
1-204-626-3401 or
Fax 1-204-626-3252
Also:
Brandon, MB
1-204-729-9190
2420 Z Street, Omaha, NE 68107
1-402-556-4070
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 15

The Five Steps to
Good Governance
A company’s reputation with consumers and stakeholders is
important to the bottom line.
By Wayne Gelb, CA
A
s the population becomes
increasingly sensitive to social
accountability, a company’s
reputation is as important to the bottom
line as revenue growth. Managing your
company’s reputation effectively begins
with strong corporate governance.
While every corporate governance
strategy will have its own parameters,
there are five fundamental steps that
every organization should consider when
putting a program in place.
Step 1 – Understand stakeholders
Until you truly define and understand
your stakeholders, you cannot create a
holistic governance program for your
company. Traditionally, stakeholders are
thought of as the owners, investors and
the board of advisors, but you also need
to consider and include management,
employees, suppliers, customers, lenders
and the community. For those in the meat
processing industry, it is also important
to consider the needs of the regulatory
and health and safety bodies that govern
your business.
Step 2 - Identify key objectives
This is essential to setting the expectations
of your stakeholders and encouraging
ethical decision making at all levels. Start
by developing a long-term strategic plan
that will satisfy all identified stakeholders.
Build or revisit your company’s mission
statement to ensure that it encompasses
attributes such as honesty, trust, integrity,
openness, accountability, responsibility,
mutual respect and commitment to the
organization. It is also important to make
sure that growth remains a key element in
defining your objectives.
Step 3 – Define internal control and
reporting requirements
This step involves two elements. The
first is to review financial reporting
processes and the frequency of reporting.
In this current economic climate, it is
advisable to accelerate your cash flow
forecasting to a quarterly, maybe even
monthly, basis to accommodate rapidly
changing assumptions and business
conditions.
The second element is to monitor your
working capital carefully. This includes
staying on top of your receivables and
proactively identifying specific customer
credit issues. Keep in mind that both your
financial and operational processes need
to be documented and communicated so
that lenders and regulators can be sure
you are taking the right steps to protect
your finances, your products and the
future of your operation.
Step 4 – Ensure your team has the
right tools and resources
Ultimately a company needs to be
prepared to make the necessary investment
to ensure that the right tools are in
place to meet the corporate governance
objectives. If your management team does
not have the adequate training, support
and technology to run the business
effectively, then the owners or board of
advisors cannot hold them accountable.
Consider surveying the management
team to identify what resources will allow
them to optimize their performance
and encourage them to contribute their
opinions to improve the success of the
company. By doing so, you will not only
gain loyalty, you will also enhance and
strengthen the corporate culture.
Step 5 – Enforce your policies
Effective governance begins with a
strong company culture. It is essential to
communicate regularly and effectively
so that you foster a culture where team
members believe in and live the corporate
values and responsibilities. That means
setting clear expectations and guidelines
for the team, rewarding achievements and
behaviours that reinforce the company’s
values, as well as celebrating company
successes. However, effectively managing
corporate culture also means dealing
swiftly with behaviours that are not in
congruence with the company’s values.
It is important to remember that
governance is an evolving process that
demands a corporate wide effort.
Wayne Gelb is a partner with Fuller Landau,
Toronto-based, mid-market public accounting and
business advisory firm. Wayne can be reached at 416-
645-6546, or by email at wgelb@fullerlandau.com.
16 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

| Cross Countr y News |
Saskatchewan
200 Laid Off at XL Foods Moose Jaw Plant
XL Foods Inc. recently laid off all 200 staff at its Moose Jaw
beef plant due to a shortage of cull and fed cattle supplies.
According to the company, the shortage is “unusual” and
expected to abate in the coming months. The company said
the plant will remain closed until September.
“We regret that we have had to take such extreme action
but look forward to recalling the staff and recommencing
operations on or before Sept. 28, 2009,” XL co-CEO Brian
Nilsson said in a release.
Manitoba
Governments Launch Growing Forward
Programs in Manitoba
The federal government and Province of Manitoba have
announced details of new agricultural programs for farmers in
Manitoba under the Growing Forward framework.
“Farmers expect all levels of government to work together to
drive Canadian agriculture and this agreement is making that
happen,” federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in a release.
“Growing Forward delivers stable and bankable programs that
work for farmers. The agreement we signed today will kick-start
the rollout of these essential programs in Manitoba.”
“This combined support for Manitoba’s diverse agriculture
industry will help advance timely programs and products
that will expand agricultural business opportunities,” added
Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister
Rosann Wowchuk. “As new initiatives are created throughout the
province, the ripple effect of the economic benefits will provide
an even more positive growth factor in the future.”
Growing Forward is a national agriculture framework to
coordinate federal and provincial agriculture policy. Federal,
provincial, and territorial governments are delivering $1.3
billion for farm families over five years. Today’s agreement with
Manitoba will deliver a total of $117.5 million from the federal
and provincial governments for agriculture in this province.
Growing Forward programs are tailored with the flexibility
to meet Manitoba’s diverse regional requirements. The
Government of Canada and Province of Manitoba have worked
with farmers every step of the way to develop the Growing
Forward framework.
In Manitoba, the Growing Forward framework supports
programs to encourage innovations such as new business
initiatives and value-added products that will add to agriculturalbased
value chains. Other programs include enhancements to
food safety systems from the farm gate to the food plate and
environmental protection planning.
For a complete list of Growing Forward programs in Manitoba,
visit gov.mb.ca/agriculture.
Ontario
Maple Leaf Foods to Wait for Sale of
Burlington Business
Maple Leaf Foods announced it will not continue a formal
sale process for its Burlington, Ont. pork processing business
until possibly early next year.
“The current economic conditions and credit markets have
created a less than ideal environment to sell any business,”
Michael Vels, chief financial officer of Maple Leaf Foods said
in a release. “There is no immediate urgency to selling the
Burlington business. It is an efficient and profitable business
and we want to ensure we negotiate an offer that recognizes the
appropriate value for the business and meets the expectations
of our shareholders”
The decision to sell the Burlington business resulted from
the company's decision to refocus its growth in the value-added
meat, meals and bakery businesses in October 2006, involving
the divestiture or exit of several of its primary processing and
other operations.
The company said it plans to wait until markets rebound
to continue the process, which it estimates will not be likely
before early 2010.
Guelph Woman Arrested for Tampering with
Schneider’s Meat Products
Guelph, Ont. police arrested 41-year-old Mastoora Qezil in
March for tampering with meat products at a grocery store.
The woman, a former Maple Leaf Consumer Foods
employee, was charged with one count of Common Nuisance
18 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

under the Criminal Code.
On March 18, Guelph police entered into an investigation
when it was reported that sewing needles of various lengths
had been inserted into various Schneider’s meat products at
the No Frills Store located on Silvercreek Parkway.
Aside from the original complaint none of the items
tampered with were sold to the public. In all 12 packaged
products containing 13 needles had been tampered with. No
one was physically injured as result.
According to Maple Leaf Foods, Qezil had worked at the
company’s plant in Guelph for seven years and was terminated
earlier that month.
“We are very pleased that the police investigation has resulted
in a charge being laid,” a Maple Leaf media statement said.
“We also grateful to the cooperation extended by the police
and the retailer throughout the investigation.”
Bona Foods
Our apologies to Bona Foods. In our last issue we
did not correctly identify the company as Platinum
Winners at the Ontario’s Finest Meat Competition in
the “Fermented Sausage” category for its Paisanella
Salami. Bona Foods is a food processing company that
manufactures and distributes a variety of Italian-style
deli meats throughout Canada. Visit Bona Foods at
bonafoods.com.
Why should people go
hungry while food goes
to waste?
Do you...
Work with a perishable or non-perishable
food company in the Greater Toronto Area?
Want to reduce waste and save on
disposal costs?
Need to free up storage space?
Why not donate your surplus, close-to-code or
damaged packaged food to Second Harvest?
To arrange a food pickup, simply call 416-408-2594
or email melissad@secondharvest.ca
secondharvest.ca
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 19

The Kitchen
is Open
A new way for processors to purchase
equipment.
Photo: Unitherm Food Systems
By David Rizzo
J
ust as only a fool would buy a new car without going
for a test drive, food processors now find themselves
adopting a similar approach when it comes to
purchasing equipment for their facilities. No longer
content to simply sign-off on the delivery of large
ovens and chillers at their docks, and then trying to adapt the
machinery to their particular process, plant managers have long
sought a means to ensure, in advance, that such equipment is
optimally suited for their operation.
With the advent of equipment manufacturers offering fully
equipped kitchens so that food producers can “kick the tires”
on new equipment by visiting the manufacturers with their
product in tow, better results in terms of yield and quality are
now becoming the norm.
The most complete examples of these kitchens allow food
processors to test varying cooking and freezing options and to
optimize the equipment and the process before they put down a
penny. Some manufacturers even go so far as to bring in design
engineers to modify the equipment to further customize the
equipment to actually improve the customer’s process.
In effect, this new direction allows processors to perfect their
product – be it cooked or frozen, vegetable or meat – in the
“showroom” so that no surprises pop up on the production
floor.
Henry Ford was quoted as saying, “You can have any colour
you want, as long as it’s black.” It’s not too far a stretch to
make a comparison with the old paradigm of purchasing food
processing machinery, where processors had to purchase “off
the shelf.”
In such instances, the capabilities of the equipment often
dictated the cooking and freezing processes, resulting in a lessthan-optimal
taste and quality of the final product for the sake
of high volumes that only automated machinery can deliver.
But the competitive food market takes no prisoners, and
processors that don’t offer the best gustatory experience to the
consumer will eventually go out of business. Hence, the need to
get it right the first time.
This is where the shift toward equipment-testing kitchens
comes in.
“The future of food process machinery purchasing is
going this way, where the customer can demand to go into a
kitchen and actually try out their product on the machinery,”
predicts David Howard, CEO of Unitherm Food Systems of
Bristow, Oklahoma. “Only then can they feel confident that
the equipment best serves their operational parameters and
expected results.”
Already recognized throughout the food processing industry
for its unique heat transfer systems that maximize yields and
reduce processing times, Unitherm recently joined the, as yet,
20 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

Photos: Unitherm Food Systems
“The future of food process machinery purchasing is going this way.”
– David Howard, CEO, Unitherm Food Systems
small coterie of manufacturers that feature fully equipped test
kitchens.
As one of the newer, more modern, iterations of manufacturerowned
test kitchens, it presents a textbook example of what
type of environment awaits the producers of cooked vegetables,
meats and frozen foods.
Upon arrival, guests get introduced to a $2.5 million, 25,000-
square-foot kitchen dedicated to high-volume, high-speed, food
processing. Entry begins with a true “clean room” experience,
with hygienic architectural products such as stainless steel
curbing, hands-free sinks and stainless steel floor drains.
“Test kitchens should be set up to resemble a high-quality
food factory,” explains Howard. “Here, you walk in, change into
your smock and boots, and put on a hair net. Then proceed
through a hand wash station. There’s also a sanitizer to scrub
and wash your boots.”
The food processing area itself contains $8 million worth of
fully operational production machines and product handling
equipment that can continuously feed as many as 10 different
cooking processes. Think: steaming, blanching, broiling,
baking, searing, branding, grilling and pasteurizing; convection
impingement to infrared; with gas, electric or thermal oil.
Cooking temps range from below boiling point all the way to
1,600° F.
Continued on page 22
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 21

Photos: Unitherm Food Systems
Specific pieces of equipment include a flame broiler/griller
with a series of eight ribbon burners to speed the browning
and searing of foods such as mushrooms. In the case of poultry,
the searing process seals in the natural oils before entering an
oven. The oven, itself, incorporates a 16-inch wide belt that
spirals around the burners to the equivalent of 150 ft. of belt,
all within an 8 ft. x 8 ft. footprint.
No kitchen, test or otherwise, would be complete without a
gas infrared oven, the most innovative of which utilize a stainless
steel burner head for increased durability.
Likewise, quick cooling “crusters” have attained de rigueur
status for any food processing plant that produces meat or
poultry logs. Round out the chilling side of the business with a
spiral freezer and a continuous impingement freezer. With the
inclusion of an infrared or aquaflow pasteurizer, almost every
imaginable aspect of the food processing industry gets covered
in today’s modern kitchen.
If that’s not enough, Unitherm’s kitchen, for one, comes
staffed with design engineers willing to work hand-in-hand
with food processors to modify any existing machinery into a
customized cooking system. An on-site 3-D modelling system
speeds the process.
Test drives yield success
Early feedback indicates that these kitchens are proving
to be quite popular among food processors. Whether fireroasting
Portobello mushrooms, steaming potatoes, cooking
vegetables and other ingredients for sauces and ravioli fillings
or baking chicken tenders, experimenting with the equipment
emboldens processors to proceed with confidence, knowing
that the equipment will maximize yields, reduce processing
times, increase food safety and improve the taste of final
product
“One food processor based in Mexico flew directly from a
trade show, where we met, to our plant near Tulsa,” recalls
Howard. “We supplied the green peppers that he uses in his
plant, that ultimately stuffs the peppers with other ingredients.
Passing them through a correctly set-up roaster blackens the
outer skin, which then gets removed to leave a slim, roasted
pepper. We ran the test, and they bought a machine on the
spot.”
Howard tells of another processor who needed to speed up
the roasting of tomatoes.
“He came to our kitchen loaded with tomatoes just before
Christmas,” continues Howard. “We put the tomatoes in the
roaster and the project was finished in 10 minutes. In-and-out;
done. In this case, we could adapt the machine to fit his exact
purpose, which is why it worked out so well. But we couldn’t
have done it unless he was in our kitchen with his product.”
Such positive outcomes get repeated in these new kitchens
throughout the country, with all manner of food products and
purposes. Howard recounted stories of successfully achieving a
roasting rate of 7,000 lbs. per hour of red bell peppers within
four hours of having the client enter the kitchen. In the case
of a producer of pre-cooked ready meals – such as lasagna,
macaroni and cheese and potato salad – the producer booked
two-days of stay at the Unitherm location.
“We’re allowing food processors to first think about, ‘How
am I going to maximize the quality of my product,’ as opposed
to thinking about machinery,” adds Howard.
David Rizzo, D.P.M., writes technical articles for Power PR, based in
Torrance, Calif. He has published two trade books, 150 technical articles,
and 300 newspaper columns.
22 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

events calendar
May 2009
27 to 28
Advanced Listeria Intervention and Control
Workshop
Allerton Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
ami.com
June 2009
17 to 18
Food Meets Function
Best Western Lamplighter Inn and
Conference Centre, London, Ont.
foodmeetsfunction.ca
17 to 21
35th Annual Canadian Association
of Foodservice Professionals (CAFP)
Conference
Calgary, Alta.
cafp.com
July 2009
12 to 15
IAFP 2009 96th Annual Meeting
Gaylord Texan Resort
Grapevine, Texas
foodprotection.org
September 2009
10 to 13
NAMP 67th Annual Convention
The Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs,
Colorado
namp.com
27 to 28
Alberta Foodservice Show
Roundup Centre / Stampede Park
Calgary, Alta.
crfa.ca/tradeshows/Alberta
March 2010
7 to 9
CRFA Show
Toronto, Ont.
crfa.ca/tradeshows
April 2010
18 to 19
ApEx
Halifax, N.S.
crfa.ca/tradeshows
29 to 30
BC Foodservice Expo
Vancouver, B.C.
crfa.ca/tradeshows
Thefoodnewz is an on line events calendar created by Debra Bradshaw of Zep Food
& Beverage Division. To find out more about the events listed in this magazine visit
thefoodnewz.com. If you know of events not listed please email Debra directly at
zeprep@rogers.com.
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 23

| Industr y Roundup |
Depressed Margins in Packaged Meats
Overshadows Maple Leaf’s Q1
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. continues to recover
from last summer’s massive product recall,
the company reported today in its financial
results for the first quarter ended March 31,
2009.
Sales for the first quarter increased
6.3 per cent to $1.3 billion compared
to $1.2 billion last year, reflecting price increases and the
benefit of favourable foreign currency changes on fresh
meat sales.
Earnings from operations before restructuring and other
related costs and other income decreased by 4.5 per cent
to $31.6 million compared to $33.1 million last year, as
significant declines in packaged meat earnings were mitigated
by benefits from the restructuring of pork processing and hog
production operations and price increases across the bakery
business.
Adjusted operating earnings in the company’s meat products
group declined to $11.4 million in the first quarter of 2009
compared to $25.0 million last year. Margins in packaged
meat products were significantly lower than last year due to
the impact of volume recovery efforts following last year's
product recall. The company stated that over the next several
months, its management will be implementing actions to
restore margins, including appropriate price action, reducing
internal costs and resuming more normalized investment
in promotions. In response to the economic recession,
marketing and innovation activities are focused on shifting
the product mix to offer consumers a greater variety of value
propositions.
Earnings from fresh pork operations improved significantly
in the first quarter, as the benefits from double shifting the
pork processing plant in Brandon, Man., the consolidation
of ham boning operations and the closure of less efficient
plants were realized. A weaker Canadian dollar resulted in
higher sales prices for fresh pork and increased earnings from
international sales.
In the first quarter, the company announced that due to
difficult credit markets, it has suspended actively marketing its
pork processing business in Burlington, Ont. The sale process
for this business is expected to resume when credit markets
stabilize and an appropriate sale value can be realized. The
business is profitable and contributed to cash flow and
earnings for the quarter. Earnings from the company’s poultry
operations were consistent with last year.
Rollstock Sales Director to be “Deeply Missed”
Rollstock, Inc. released the following statement regarding
the death of its sales director, Craig McBee.
“Craig McBee began his sales career in automatic vacuum
packaging in 1979. He joined Rollstock as the director of
sales in 1998 where he was instrumental in establishing the
company as the industry leader in entry-level to mid-range h/
f/f/s packaging equipment. Craig found more than a job at
Rollstock; he found a new family and lifted it to success. He
was an authority in his field and his unique, jovial personality
will be deeply missed by all who knew him.”
CFC’s 2009 Executive Committee
The Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) has announced the
election of its 2009 executive committee.
The 15-member Board of Directors, made up of farmers
and other stakeholders from the chicken industry, provides
leadership on CFC’s strategic plan and mission and has chosen
the following representatives:
David Fuller, a farmer from Blomidon, N.S., has been reelected
as CFC’s chairman – a position he has held since 1999.
He has been with CFC’s board since 1996, and has been active
with the Chicken Farmers of Nova Scotia for over 15 years.
Fuller and his family produce 1.4 million kilograms of chicken
annually in the Annapolis Valley. Three generations of Fullers
have been involved at all levels of the industry.
Martin Dufresne, representing the province of Quebec, was
re-elected to the position of first vice-chair. Also a member
of CFC’s market development committee, Dufresne farms
near St. Félix-de-Valois with his wife and three children. He
produces approximately 1.7 million kilograms of chicken per
year on the farm started by his father in 1954. He has been
farming for over 20 years and is also the chair of the Quebec
provincial board, Les Éleveurs de volailles du Quèbec.
Urs Kressibucher, a second-generation farmer from
Beaverton, Ont., was re-elected to the CFC executive committee
as second vice-chair for 2009. Since 2004, Kressibucher has
participated on the CFC market development committee,
the CFC food safety committee and the CFC animal care
committee. Representing District 9 (Eastern Ontario) for
seven years for Chicken Farmers of Ontario and serving as
vice-chair of the Poultry Industry Council, Kressibucher and
24 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

his family have been chicken farmers for the past 20 years.
Erna Ference has been involved with poultry farming for
years and has been re-elected as the member at large. As a
certified management accountant and a second-generation
poultry farmer, she brings a breadth of experience to the
table. Married to Reg, a former CFC board member from
Alberta, they have five kids between the ages of 14 and 25.
Their operation produces about 1.5 million kg per year and is
located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
CFC’s main responsibility is to ensure that Canada’s 2,800
chicken farmers produce the right amount of fresh, safe, high
quality chicken to meet consumer needs. CFC is proud of its
role in a continuing agriculture success story and over 30
years of raising the quality chicken that Canadians trust.
Reiser Begins Construction of New
Customer Centre
Food processing and packaging equipment company
Reiser has begun construction of a new state-of-the-industry
Customer Center at its Canton, Massachusetts headquarters.
The Customer Center – a 6,600 square foot expansion to their
existing building – builds on Reiser’s commitment to work
with their customers to test and develop new products and
processes. It is scheduled to open in September 2009.
The center will feature a customizable processing room
with space to run individual machines or fully automated
lines, as well as a test kitchen for preparing finished product.
The facility allows product to be processed under the same
conditions found in most top-of-the-line plants in the industry.
It also includes modern conference rooms for meetings and
training, as well as comfortable work stations for visitors.
“Reiser has a long history of providing the highest levels
of customer support,” John McIsaac, Reiser’s vice president
of strategic business development said in a release. “Our new
Customer Center is one more way that we can help processors
develop the best solution for their particular application.”
Reiser’s full line of processing and packaging equipment
can be tested at the Customer Center, including:
• Vemag – stuffers, grinders, formers, fillers, portioners,
depositors, extruders, coextruders and dough dividers
• Holac – dicers, slicers, and cutting equipment
• AMFEC – mixers, blenders, tumblers, massagers, and
macerators
• Fomaco – injectors, tenderizers, brine mixers, and tanks
• Seydelmann – bowl cutters and choppers, mixers,
grinders, and mixing grinders
• Ross – tray sealers for case-ready and modified
atmosphere packaging
• Repak – horizontal form/fill/seal packaging machines
• Supervac – automatic vacuum chamber
packaging machines
Processors are invited to contact Reiser and schedule a test or
demonstration. Reiser is located in Canton, Massachusetts.
reiser.com
meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 25

Be a Fly on the Wall in
By Bill Melville
Your Own Facility
How to understand fly habits and prevent infestations.
B
eef, pork, poultry, flies? Which
one doesn’t belong? While the
answer might be obvious, flies
are more than just nuisance
pests, they are a health hazard and can
cause serious problems for your facility
– from contamination to shutting down
operations.
Flies carry more than 100 pathogens
and can transmit bacteria such as
staphylococcus, E. coli and salmonella
every time they land. More importantly,
flies can cover large distances in a short
amount of time so they pose a serious
contamination risk to facilities.
Meat processing facilities provide
the right ingredients for flies – plenty
of water and food. An integrated pest
management (IPM) plan, however,
incorporates sanitation and facility
maintenance to eliminate pests’ access to
these survival needs.
Do your homework
Ask your pest management professional
to inspect your facility for evidence of flies
such as breeding sites, or conditions that
attract them, like available food and water
sources. In order to identify what specific
flies might affect your facility, your pest
management professional should be
trained in pest biology and behavior.
For example, he or she should be able
to easily identify the difference between
a fruit fly and a drain fly, as fly control
treatments work best when targeted
toward a specific pest species or growth
stage. After the inspection, consult with
your pest management professional to
determine the most effective prevention
options.
Keep a clean house
Flies can pick up bacteria from breeding
spots, such as in trash or on decaying
matter, and pass it onto other surfaces the
next time they land. Therefore, an unclean
facility is fly-friendly and open to problems
down the road. Establish a sanitation plan
to complement your IPM program and
keep flies uninterested in your facility.
Set up a regular cleaning schedule and
assign duties so that everyone plays a role
Photo: Orkin, Inc.
Install plastic strip doors to create an
extra barrier against flying pests.
Meat processing
facilities provide the right
ingredients for flies –
plenty of water and food.
in stringent sanitation.
• Thoroughly clean all equipment on a
regular basis. Make sure to clean deep
into the cracks and crevices.
• Keep employee break rooms free of
any uncovered food or dirty dishes
that might draw flies.
• Wipe up spills immediately, even if it
is just water. Fruit fly larvae tend to
develop in moist areas or in standing
water.
• Line all trash cans inside your facility
and keep the lids closed to reduce
odors attractive to flies. Take trash out
regularly, especially if it contains food
waste.
• Schedule a regular trash pick-up to
remove the fly attraction from your
property. Keep dumpsters as far
from your building as possible, and
then power wash and rotate them
frequently.
• Remove drain covers and scrub drains
with a brush and an organic cleaner
to prevent build-up.
Create a barrier against flies
Flies breed extremely quickly, so once
inside your facility, two can turn into a
few in a matter of days. Regularly inspect
your building’s exterior to make a few
improvements that can help discourage
pests from ever coming inside.
• Use positive airflow to push flies
out rather than suck them into
your building. To check if airflow is
positive, hold a strip of paper under
the doorway. The paper, and air,
should blow out the door and away
from the building.
• Pay attention to lighting on the outside
of your facility. Use sodium vapor
lights since they are less attractive
to flies than fluorescent lights. If
possible, position sodium vapor lights
away from the building, shining back
toward the structure.
• Keep doors and windows closed at
all times. Weather stripping around
doors and windows will close up any
small cracks or crevices.
• Install #16 mesh screens on windows
to block even the smallest flies from
getting through. Phorid flies can be as
small as .03 centimeters.
• Consider plastic door strips near
loading zones .
• Air curtains, installed above all
frequently used doors, can also help
to prevent fly entry. Position highspeed
fans inside door frames that
blow air downward to create a barrier
to flying insects.
Encourage your employees to work
directly with your pest management
professional and report sightings
immediately. With a plan in place, you
can take the right steps toward effective
pest management and keep flies out of
the picture.
Bill Melville is quality assurance director for
Orkin PCO Services. For more information,
contact bmelville@pcocanada.com or visit
orkincanada.com.
26 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

| Business Spotlight |
We can help you develop a range
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Tel: 800-561-9461 or 514-695-0380
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meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 27

| Product Showcase |
New
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• Mincing head
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28 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca

| Product Showcase |
STAINLESS STEEL TRUCKS / RACKS
Let Beacon customize
one of our standard Truck
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Whether it is a Nesting,
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Phone (708) 544-9900 Fax (708) 544-9999
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meatbusiness.ca
May/June 2009 Canadian Meat Business 29

| Meat Industr y Business Watch |
Stimulating Growth by
Funding Innovation
By James Sbrolla
Ontario meat sector companies take note!
T
he Province of Ontario has
found a new way to stimulate
growth in companies
embodying new technology. The
Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF)
is an early-stage seed fund that is
managed by the Ontario Centres of
Excellence (OCE). It is designed to
help Ontario based start-up and earlystage
technology companies bring
their products and services to market.
Through investment of up to $500,000,
the IAF will help commercialize and
bring to market technology ventures
that have high potential.
In addition to critical seed investment,
that is often a challenge for early-stage
companies to secure, the IAF also
provides access to valuable services
such as market research and business
mentoring through the Business
Mentorship and Entrepreneurship
Program (www.marsdd.com).
The IAF is part of the Market
Readiness Program, which OCE is
delivering in partnership with MaRS
and the National Angel Organization.
Together, these organizations provide
a platform of programs and resources
that entrepreneurs and innovators
can access to help create successful
businesses. Essentially the money
comes from the province through the
Ministry of Research and Innovation
and is administered through the OCE.
According to Shirley Speakman,
investment manager of the IAF, there
has been tremendous traction for this
new fund. “We have had hundreds of
companies apply and we have made
eight investments to date. The quality
and quantity of exciting companies
that are commercializing in Ontario
is truly amazing.” Speakman goes on
to say that, “Companies are rigorously
evaluated through an investment
process. Knowing the challenges
that start up companies face, we try
to respond quickly to investment
opportunities.”
Eligibility
The IAF is open to Ontario-based
start-up or early-stage technology
companies that have received no
significant institutional investment
and meet the following minimum
requirements:
• Technologies or intellectual
property (IP the company intends
to commercialize must have unique
and protectable aspects that
establish a sustainable competitive
advantage);
• The company must have
unencumbered rights to
commercialize the technology;
“The quality and quantity
of exciting companies
that are commercializing
in Ontario is truly
amazing.”
– Shirley Speakman, Investment
Accelerator Fund
• The products and services the
company intends to bring to
market must meet a defined
market need and have a significant
and sustainable advantage over
competitors;
• The addressable market should be
at minimum $20 million;
• The management team must have
the appropriate skills and domain
expertise or be willing to replace or
augment the team if necessary;
• There must be a clear and plausible
path to commercialization;
• Both pre-revenue and early revenue
companies are eligible;
• A minimum of 50 per cent of salaried
employees must be based in Ontario;
The terms of the funding are quite
reasonable for companies that qualify.
The money is invested in the form
of a convertible debenture. This is a
“loan” like instrument. The interest
rate is prime plus one per cent, which
is extremely competitive compared
to other sources of venture capital.
The loan is convertible into equity
(at a discount) when another round
of significant financing is completed.
While there are no personal guarantees
required, the investment is secured
against certain assets of the company
and the company must give up five per
cent of the equity of the business to
consummate the investment.
The IAF investment money must be
directed at specific initiatives that come
from the following business activities:
• Recruitment of team members
• Business development
• Late-stage product, process or
service development
• Implementation of a defined
marketing or distribution strategy
The IAF selection process is extremely
competitive. Hundreds of companies
have applied thus far and many have
met the guidelines. However, meeting
the eligibility requirements alone is not
a guarantee that a company will receive
investment. Resources are limited and
only select companies will ultimately
receive investment.
The IAF funding program is an
outstanding instrument for companies
that do receive investment. It brings
capital at a critical stage that may not
be available from traditional sources.
In these current tight financial times
this opportunity should not go by
unexplored.
James Sbrolla is a Torontobased
management consultant
and can be reached at
416.234.5120
or sbrolla@rogers.com.
30 Canadian Meat Business May/June 2009 meatbusiness.ca